WoW Classic Realms Population Report: August 17th – News

In this article, we’re taking a closer look at how to choose a realm and create a character in WoW Classic.

UPDATE #3: Check out our third report for the latest realm pop details. Blizzard urged players to stay away from Herod (US) and Shazzrah (EU). The realms are extremely overpopulated based on name reservations. Expect 10K+ queue times if all existing players remain there.

UPDATE #2: A new PvP server is now available in the US. We can expect extended queue times on select realms. Check out our latest realm pop report for more information.

UPDATE #1: Blizzard announced a new PvP server for Europe amid increasing realm population. Most realms went from Medium to Full overnight.

1. Installing the Game

The first thing you need to do in order to create a character is to install the game. This is done by selecting World of Warcraft Classic in the Battle.net desktop app. Click the Install button, and the installation bar will show you when the game is available to play. Click the Play button to log in.

2. Understanding Realm Types

Before picking a server, you should familiarize yourself with the different server types that will be available at Classic launch:

Normal: On these servers, you must manually flag yourself for PvP. No ganking while questing and you can create characters of both factions.

PvP (Player versus Player): Here, you will be flagged for PvP at all times. Exceptions apply.

IMPORTANT: If you choose to play on a PvP realm, you will be only able to create characters within the same faction.

RP (Roleplay): These servers are intended for players who want to fully immerse themselves in the game. If you know the infamous Moon Guard, you probably get the idea. Same rules apply as for Normal realms, meaning you must flag yourself for PvP manually.

RP-PvP (Roleplay Player versus Player): Virtually the same as RP realms, but with PvP added.

3. Choosing a Server

Now that you’ve picked your realm type, you can easily narrow down your results depending on your preferred time zone and language.

European realms are separated by language. There are English, German, French, and Russian realms.

US & Oceanic realms are separated by time zones.

How do you know which server best suits you? Another factor to consider is server population. Do you want to play on a highly-populated realm with many players where you won’t have issues finding groups at any time of day or would you prefer a server with low population, no lag, but slow economy?

Servers with high population have clear downsides such as server lag, long queue times during peak hours, but you won’t have problems finding players for pretty much anything (even at 4:00 AM), and you’ll pay less Gold for goods on the Auction House.

If you’d like to play on a realm with high population, you can’t go wrong by picking a streamer realm. If you’re, on the other hand, looking for an authentic Vanilla experience, you should avoid them. Many streamers have already created their characters and it appears that Faerlina-US will be the main streamer realm in WoW Classic in the US. EU streamers have so far picked Golemagg-EU.

We have preliminary data regarding WoW Classic realm population based on the recently-created characters. The latest realm population report from August 14 can be found here. The second report is available as well.

EU Realms

Name

Type

Language

Population

Gehennas (New)

PvP

English

Medium

Golemagg

PvP

English

Full

Hydraxian Waterlords

RP

English

Low Medium

Mirage Raceway

Normal

English

Low Medium

Pyrewood Village

Normal

English

Low High

Shazzrah

PvP

English

Full

Zandalar Tribe

RP-PvP

English

Low Medium

Auberdine

Normal

French

Low Medium

Sulfuron

PvP

French

Low Medium

Everlook

Normal

German

Full

Lucifron

PvP

German

Full

Хроми (Chromie)

Normal

Russian

Low Medium

Пламегор (Flamegor)

PvP

Russian

Low Medium

US Realms

Name

Type

Time Zone

Population

Atiesh

Normal

Pacific

Low High

Mankrik

Normal

Eastern

Medium High

Myzrael

Normal

Pacific

Low Medium

Pagle

Normal

Eastern

Full High

Stalagg (New)

PvP

Eastern

Low

Faerlina

PvP

Eastern

Full

Fairbanks

PvP

Pacific

Low Medium

Herod

PvP

Eastern

Full

Whitemane

PvP

Pacific

Full

Bloodsail Buccanneers

RP

Eastern

Low Medium

Grobbulus

RP-PvP

Pacific

Low Medium

Thalnos

PvP

Eastern

Medium High

Oceanic Realms

Name

Type

Time Zone

Population

Arugal

PvP

Australian Eastern Time

Low Medium

Remulos

Normal

Australian Eastern Time

Low Medium

4. Character Creation

You’ve picked a server and now must decide between the Alliance and the Horde! Note that in Classic, Paladins are only available to the Alliance and Shamans to the Horde. The final thing you must do is choose a fitting name for your character and wait for Classic to launch on August 27.

Blizzard (Source)

WoW Classic name reservations now open! Players with an active subscription or game time on their World of Warcraft account can create up to three characters per WoW account before WoW Classic releases worldwide on Monday, August 26 at 3:00 p.m. PDT.

When you reserve a name, you’ll also choose the realm you will play that character on. There are a few additional things to keep in mind as you make your choice:

Players who choose to play on a PvP realm will only be able to create characters within the same faction. This means that if you create an Alliance character, all further characters on that realm must also be Alliance characters.

After WoW Classic is live, you’ll be able to create up to 10 characters on any given realm and can create a maximum of 50 characters across all WoW Classic realms. This character count does not impact the number of characters you can create on the current World of Warcraft realms.

Characters that were created for the WoW Classic beta or stress tests will not be available to use in WoW Classic.

To create a character and play WoW Classic, you will need to download and install the client first.

Open the Battle.net desktop app and select World of Warcraft in the game selection menu.

Under the Version menu, select World of Warcraft Classic. If you have more than one World of Warcraft account, you’ll see a second dropdown for Account. In that column, select the active account you want to play on.

Click the Install button. You’ll see an installation progress bar that will show you when the installation is available to play.

Once the installation is complete, click the Play button.

You’ll need to select the realm you want to play on then select Create New Character. You’ll be able to choose your faction, class, and race, as well as fully customize your new character and name them. If you change your mind about a character and have already created your three, you will need to choose a character to delete. Please note, the name associated with the character deleted will be immediately available again to be claimed.

Before you put your plans too firmly in place, we encourage you to gather your allies together to select your new home realm. If you’re looking to reconnect with your old friends and guildmates, be sure to check out our Classic Connections forum.

AVAILABLE REALMS FOR NORTH AMERICA

Name

Type

Time Zone

Atiesh

Normal

Pacific

Mankrik

Normal

Eastern

Myzrael

Normal

Pacific

Pagle

Normal

Eastern

Faerlina

PvP

Eastern

Fairbanks

PvP

Pacific

Herod

PvP

Eastern

Whitemane

PvP

Pacific

Bloodsail Buccanneers

RP

Eastern

Grobbulus

RP-PvP

Pacific

AVAILABLE REALMS FOR OCEANIA

Name

Type

Time Zone

Arugal

PvP

Australian Eastern Time

Remulos

Normal

Australian Eastern Time

AVAILABLE REALMS FOR EUROPE

Name

Type

Language

Golemagg

PvP

English

Hydraxian Waterlords

RP

English

Mirage Raceway

Normal

English

Pyrewood Village

Normal

English

Shazzrah

PvP

English

Zandalar Tribe

RP-PvP

English

Auberdine

Normal

French

Sulfuron

PvP

French

Everlook

Normal

German

Lucifron

PvP

German

Хроми (Chromie)

Normal

Russian

Пламегор (Flamegor)

PvP

Russian

In this short guide, we’ll try to help you pick the best Classic server.